1. Field
Methods and apparatuses consistent with exemplary embodiments broadly relate to a method of skipping multimedia file and a multimedia apparatus thereof, and more particularly, to a method of skipping multimedia file during playing the multimedia file, and a multimedia apparatus thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
According to methods in the related art, when a multimedia file is played, a quick skipping operation such as fast forward and fast rewind may be performed according to a time axis. A skipping operation according to a time axis is a process of converting an actual target time into an actual position offset of a multimedia file.
Currently, there exists a lot of multimedia file formats. Hereinbelow is an explanation on examples of quick skipping method for a file format such as MPEG-2 of a moving picture expert group (MPEG).
In a first method, when a multimedia file opens, a time-stamp index file of an entire multimedia file is set. The time-stamp index is time information of the multimedia file, and the time-stamp index and position offset information corresponds to each other. If skipping is necessary when playing the multimedia file, the time-stamp index file is searched and is positioned at a corresponding place in the multimedia file. Since this method requires setting a time-stamp index file when a multimedia file opens, the time for the multimedia file to open increases, and together with the increase of the length of the file, the time for setting the time-stamp index file increases, consequently increasing the time for the time-stamp index file to open, causing inconvenience to a user.
In a second method, when a file skipping is required, a closed circuit searching for algorithms is repeated in phases, by which a range for searching is reduced, and thus the file is positioned where it corresponds to the target time stamp. As a result of applying the aforementioned closed circuit searching algorithm, a skipping process is repeated for numerous times, the time required for each skipping increases. Also if the resolution of the multimedia file is high and the length of the multimedia file is long, the time required for skipping increases significantly, also causing inconvenience to the user.
A third method is a combination of the aforementioned two methods, where the time-stamp index file of the multimedia file is set when the multimedia file opens, and the time-stamp index file searches an interval where the target time belongs to when a skipping is required, and then the closed searching algorithm operates within that interval, and thus the file is positioned where it corresponds to the multimedia file. However, even when applying the combination processing method, the aforementioned method still has a long file opening time, long time required for each skipping, and further, if the resolution of the multimedia file is high and the file is long, there is a problem that the time required for skipping increases significantly.
Therefore, the aforementioned related art methods cause the problem of increasing the time when the multimedia file is skipped.